Korea scraps ban on online purchase of 80 items from abroad

South Korea has scrapped a plan to ban direct purchases of some 80 items from overseas e-commerce platforms, a government office said on Sunday, after the plan to block their imports provoked an outcry from Korean shoppers.

Earlier this month, the government said that from June 1, some 80 items, including children’s goods, electrical products and disinfectants that have not received the KC safety certification will be banned from being sold online.

The move is part of a series of measures aimed at strengthening regulatory scrutiny on consumers' direct purchase of goods from overseas online shopping malls.

However, the Office for Government Policy Coordination said on Sunday that the announcement about the purchase ban on the items suspected to contain hazardous substances did not mean a simultaneous and complete ban on the products.

They are subject to close examinations for safety checks at this stage in time, Lee Jung-won, second deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said at a joint briefing of related ministries.

“We had meant the relevant ministries will thoroughly examine them, filter out the products confirmed to be hazardous and block their sales,” said Lee.

“There is no legal basis to ban direct purchases of the products from overseas platforms. Thus, it is impossible to stop their direct purchases from next month.”

The 80 items to be examined include 34 items controlled under the Children’s Products Act, including strollers, walkers, bicycles, textile products and toys; 34 electrical and household goods such as wires, cords, switches and batteries; and 12 household chemical products, including sterilizers, disinfectants and pesticides.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Environment and Korea Customers Service will join forces to check their safety.

During the examinations, the government can suspend their customs clearance procedures to block their imports, while seeking to amend the relevant laws. 

The results of the safety checks will be released as early as June. The government then will block online purchases of items found to contain cancer-causing materials and other hazardous substances.  

Earlier this year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government had found that some products, including children's headbands and watches, sold on Chinese online malls including AliExpress contained hazardous substances far exceeding permitted levels.

Kim Sang-mo, a director of the Korea Agency for Technology and Standards, said at the joint briefing that KC certification is not the only method to check product safety and that it is looking into other standards to apply for safety examinations, which may require a law revision.

The KC certification requirement was met with a backlash, with some questioning if baby clothes and strollers made in Europe only with European safety certification are allowed to be imported to Korea.

Write to Sang-Yong Park and Ji-Yoon Yang at yourpencil@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.